What to Do When You’ve Completely Lost Faith in Your Skateboarding

There comes a point in every skater’s life where you just… suck. Not in a “damn I didn’t get that trick” kind of way, but in a full-on existential crisis way. You roll up to the spot and can’t even commit to a warm-up ollie. You slam on the dumbest sh*t. You feel like a kook. You start wondering if it's time to sell your board and finally pick up a personality.

Relax. You’re not alone. Skateboarding is hard as hell, and even your favorite pro has considered quitting after a dry spell. So before you spiral, here’s a survival guide to help you find your footing when it feels like skateboarding doesn’t love you back anymore.

1. Lower the Stakes, Not the Trucks

Maybe your issue isn’t that you suck — maybe you’re just putting way too much pressure on yourself. If you haven’t skated in a while or you’ve just had a string of bad sessions, you can’t expect to jump back into filming-level tricks. Try dorking around. Try skating curb cuts, manual pads, or doing tricks you landed in 2009. Reconnect with why you liked this stuff in the first place. Style out a powerslide. Firecracker a three-stair. Nobody’s judging you (and if they are, they suck too).

2. Skate With People Who Don’t Care

Sometimes your crew can unintentionally make things worse. Skating with people who are on fire while you’re in a slump can just feed the self-hate spiral. Go skate with your newer friends, your cousin, your girlfriend, your weed dealer — anyone who’s down to just roll and chill. Or go solo. Some of the best mental reset sessions happen when it's just you, a quiet park, and no one's watching.

3. Take a Break (Like, Actually)

Here’s the spicy take: it’s okay to take time off from skating. Your board will be there when you get back. A week, a month, whatever. Go ride a bike. Build something. Read a zine. Take a break from the cycle of “Why can’t I land this?” and “I used to be good.” Your knees will thank you. And sometimes a break is the only way to make skating fun again.

4. Watch Skaters Who Skate Like You

Stop watching Nyjah. You’re not Nyjah. Watch someone with style and tricks you can relate to. Someone who makes skating look fun, not like a military exercise. Rewatch your old favorites or go deep on some VX-era YouTube rabbit hole. Remember that skating isn’t about being the best, it’s about doing it your way.

5. Get Weird With It

Sometimes you have to throw out everything you know and start over. Skate switch mongo. Bomb a hill. Skate a weird obstacle you’d normally avoid. Turn your board backwards and pretend you're a new skater again. Shake off the rust by forcing your brain to relearn. Creativity kills ego.

Final Thought

Skateboarding is a lifelong love-hate relationship. The feeling of total suckage is part of the deal. But if you’ve made it this far — if you’ve stuck with skating long enough to hit a wall — you’re probably in it for the right reasons. Faith in your skating will come back. And when it does, you'll land that trick you’ve been torturing yourself over. Or you won’t. And either way, you're still a skater.

Because being bad at skateboarding and doing it anyway?
That’s what makes you real.